Dracoshire

One fateful day

Dawn struck on a new day in the empire of the the Dragonborn, Dracoshire. In a small bordertown near the boundaries of the Wall and near to long time foes, The Kingdom of Many-Arrows, lies the town of Fiddler’s Green. It was in this town that a rag tag bunch of heroes met by chance in the inn of the Dancing Wench and promptly defeated a goblin raid, led by the vicious Irontooth.
It was on this day that Bogden, a man with a shadowed past, Skohr,a Dwarf on a quest from Moradin, Neoman, an old drifter who seems to be more than he looks like, and Lash, a Deva with some memory issues met. After meeting the local populace and sharing a pint in the tavern, calamity struck when the warn bells rang. Banding together with the town’s militia, as well as some other heroes, the party was able to scare Irontooth off. The Mayor of the Town, Richard, offered a high price for the removal of this so called “goblin king” who was left behind after the wall was erected. the Heroes all accepted the call, but what would the morning bring?

Are all goblins really that bad?

Morning rose on a new day in the town of Fiddler’s Green and many heroes had risen to the call of the Mayor. So many, in fact, that the mayor decided to send out several parties to find the goblin encampment. Skohr and Bogden drew triangles, placing them in a party with two strangers, a fresh out of the monastery (though he would never admit it) cleric named Jastar and a young wizard, with an affinity for fire, named Pyre. The new companions gathered their free supplies from the guards and parted ways with Neoman and Lash, who had both been drafted to the circles.
The road to the encampment was a long one, Skohr, praying to Moradin for guidance, was lost in a riddle and the party briefly lost their way. It was some quick thinking, and map reading by Pyre and Jastar (that lovable scamp) that got the party over the hill and through the woods (figuratively as well as literally). It was then that they stumbled upon some new friends and a brief battle.
In the clearing near the road was camped a small band of goblins, lying in wait to ambush. Bogden was quick to enter battle and managed to slay two of the goblin before two unseen allies, watching from a nearby cliff, jumped into battle beside him. Gotem, a minotaur barbarian, and his shifter companion, Lily had been tracking these goblins for a day and a half and saw a perfect chance to join forces. After the battle, and an unexpected execution, the two groups merged to take down the goblin leader.

After passing a bridge guarded by a riddling goblin, they finally managed to find the encampment. After surrendering their weapons, the party began negotiations, which quickly turned sour. Gotem, seizing the opportunity, chose to engage the king in a duel to the pain to determine his camp’s fate. After a lengthy battle, Irontooth, seeing the end in sight, decided to cheat and called in his soldiers. The party quickly dispatched with them and Gotem, landing the killing blow, became the new king of the Irontooth clan by right of battle.
The new king was quick to dismiss his new gained troops and the party explored a hidden cave. inside was a tomb of past kings of the clan. Each one holding a treasure of that particular king. After some quick grave robbing, imitated by Bogden, the party discovered many treasures: a book of history that revealed much about the area (as well as Pyre’s family history), some magical goggles, a modified mace, a magical axe and a bag of holding. Luckily, no one set off any traps. Gotem sent his people to the safety of their own kingdom and the party went back to Fiddler’s Green.
Upon arrival, Richard, the mayor, gave them his thanks and their payment. upon hearing about the goblin migration, he warned that the Wall, which was north of their encampment, was patrolled by Dragonborn who would kill them on sight. Feeling guilty, Gotem tracked down the town alchemist and acquired a scroll to send them a message, but it came at the cost of Pyre’s new magical axe. Weary from their day, the party finally went to the Inn to celebrate their victory. It was here that each one received a curious letter. “Join me at the docks at 6am, if you want to live” it warned…..

The entrance fee is a couple of zombies

PCs in attendance: Lily, Pyre, Gotem, Bogden
Upon receiving letters asking them to to meet someone on the docks, the adventuring party decided to set off and find out what it was all about. They arrived at the meager river docks alongside about a dozen other heroes. Among the score was Lash, Jastar and their old pal Skohr, who had left earlier that morning.
Standing on the end of the dock was a cloaked figure lending on his sword. He offered all in attendance membership to his guild, the only price was they needed to prove themselves one of more time. How could these folks pass up food, work and a place in the world. Their job was a simple one, they were to escort a caravan of mages to an abandoned elf city called Moonlight to recover a lost tome. The only catch was, the city was off limits to anyone and they were not to tell any empire representatives about their quest. After some quick packing they were off.
Our heroes were assigned the lead two caravans and set off alongside a few other people. They traveled for a few days without any incidents but it was when they were stopped at a roadblock and questioned by some official looking kobolds, that things went wrong. The kobolds truly wanted to know more about the expedition, through some quick thinking and creative lying, the party narrowly escaped without violence but the captain of the kobolds smelt trouble and sounded the alarm. The battle was a quick one, those guards who came out of the gates were quickly engulfed by Pyre’s flames, crushed under Lily’s maces or hacked by Bogden’s sword. Only Gotem, believing these to be officials of the empire, did not draw his weapons. After Gotem jumped across the narrow river, he was able to pull the switch and open the gate, he even managed to disarm the trap set on the lever. Once the gate was open, the battle was soon won.
Only two kobolds remained, one locked in the guard tower and the second was tied up by Bogden. It was now that Gotem and Bogden had a bit of a stand off, Bogden wanted to kill the remaining soldiers and move on, while Gotem, strong in his resolve, would not see unarmed creatures murdered. It was some further inspection by the caravan leader that discovered that the emblem of the Empire, painted on the gate was not real. This discovery changed Gotem’s view on the situation, these were no longer agents of the Empire but no good highwaymen. After a failed attempt to blow open the door with his fire powers (and hurting his hands in the process) Pyre handed the job off to Gotem, who promptly unlocked it. Inside they found the bodies of the massacred empirical kobolds. Pyre set the tower on fire and the party moved on.
Upon arriving in the moss covered city of Moonlight City a day later, the guild candidates were divided up to defend certain groups of mages. Lily, Pyre, Gotem and Bogden were assigned an old dwarf and his dragonborn apprentice, while Lash, Skohr, Jastar and a copper Dragonborn named Kybros were assigned to another group. These four companions searched the city and ransacked a few houses. Strangely enough, the party noticed that it seemed like the elves of this city simply disappeared, ale was still in the glasses at the bar and food sitting on tables in some houses. A few hours later the old dwarf wizard asked them to escort him to a tower near the edge of town. Only a few feet from the door, the ground began to rumble and a black mist enveloped the city.
From the mist came armour clad, dark figures who began to massacre the intruding caravans. The four companions attempted to make a stand but it seemed these monsters were too powerful. the old dwarf wizard was slain and just as things began to look fatal for them all, a familiar Dragonborn exploded out the side of a house. Kybros slayed two of the figures and begged the companions to follow him to safety. Skirting down a back alley, the party witnessed many of the people they had traveled there with murdered in front of them. Especially saddening was the sight of Lash, surrounded by a dozen of the figures, backed against a wall. As they made a mad break for the tower near the center of town, a sewer grate popped up in front of them and a mud caked Skohr re-joined his companions. They reached the tower to find Jastar, bashing at its protective field futility. Bogden used the ivory figurine he had acquired from one of the houses nearby to gain access for him and his companions. They breached the door of the tower and quickly began barricading it.
Bogden, Lily and Pyre searched desperately for a way out while Kybros, Skohr, Jastar and Gotem held the door. While digging through book cases, chests and cupboards, the three were able to find some interesting items, among which was the spell book they had been sent to find. As the door began to buckle, it was Pyre’s magical sense that thought to look under the carpet near the altar. Under it was a sigil that would be their salvation. After reciting the right words the portal began to form, but it was too late, the door burst open and the dark figures began to flood the room. It was Kybros who valiantly gave his life to hold back the horde and by the rest enough time for the portal to get them out of the cursed city.
Lily, Bogden, Gotem, Pyre, Skohr and Jastar woke up in a forest clearing, not knowing where they had landed. They decided to head north to try and figure out thier situation, but it was at that moment that Jastar went down from a sleeping potion infused dart and a dozen crossbows were heard being loaded. The party froze as a battle hardened elf walked out from the trees to confront them.
What will happen to our brave heroes?